Upanishad

Parmenides’ philosophy is unique in the history of ideas in Europe, but it has a striking parallel in India, from about the same age. The unchanging Absolute, called ‘Being’ or ‘Existent’; the depreciation of everyday objects as mere ‘names’; and the construction of the empirical world out of elements called ‘forms’ are all found in the first text of the Sadvidyā (Chāndogya Upaniṣad VI. 1-7). Comparing details and taking into consideration other old Indian material this paper tries to prove that convergence of thought or parallel development is out of the question – there must have been actual contact. Also it suggests that the most probable scenario is that Parmenides travelled to India, learned the language and some important philosophical texts, and brought them back to Greece.

Śvetāśvatara is a more recent classical Upaniad, belonging to the line of Ka Yajur-Veda. Nevertheless, the text has always been regarded as one of high authority, being commented upon even by important authors, such as Śakara. Śvetāśvatara is famous for its brief but clear approach of the ultimate reality (Brahman), being one of the outstanding texts of this kind. Brahman is depicted under all its major aspects, generally found in the Upaniads: as fundamental reality, the Self of all individual beings, the primordial being (Purua), the realm of liberation, the ultimate subject, the principle of the world-cycle (brahmacakra). Several verses also discuss on the Universe, generally on the basis of some Sākhya categories. The whole text is imbued with a strong theistic feeling, much more visible than in case of most other Upaniads. Of a special interest are verses III.1-III.6, which identify the ultimate reality with the Vedic god Rudra, a violent and frightening deity. In order to "tame" him, the text calls him "iva" ("kind", "benefic") and, along time, the god Rudra would be known by the name "Śiva". The text includes several other archaic elements, inherited from the Vedic tradition, such as verses II.1-II.7, where the ancient cult of the Sun is reinterpreted as a metaphor for the realization of Brahman. Much attention have received the Sākhya influences scattered in various parts of the text. There are some verses which make use of Sākhya categorical divisions or which speak in Sākhya terms, such as Īvara, Pradhāna, Prakti. Some classical ideas of Sākhya, such as the theory of the three "qualities" (gua) of manifestation and maybe even its dualism could be, at last, traced in Śvetāśvatara 

In the context of Indian classical literature, the Upanishads (Upanisads) hold a particularly important place for both those within the Hindu tradition and for scholars of early Indian religious history and literature. For many Hindus, the Upanishads are viewed as the intellectual culmination of the Vedic sacrificial tradition that preceded them and become known as veda ̄nta (lit. “end of the Veda”), texts that serve as root texts for some of the classi-cal Indian philosophical schools (darshana [dars ́ana]) that developed several centuries later. From a historical perspective, the Upanishads mark a shift away from the ritual tradition of the Vedas when newly developed notions of karma, asceticism, mental training or yoga,and moksha (moksa, “liberation”) begin to coexist and then – along with devotional (bhakti)
trends – supplant the previously dominant sacrificial worldview. While many Hindus see a fundamental continuity in Vedic and Upanishadic thinking, religious and literary historians tend to see the Upanishads as having greater affinity with later Hinduism than with the earlier elite and technical ritual milieu. But even if we assume the position of the latter, it should always be remembered that the composers of the earliest Upanishads were of the same priestly families enacting and producing the Vedas; they assume its framework and validity. Along with an ideological shift, the emergence of the Upanishads also marks a significant material shift, reflecting the settling of formerly nomadic peoples in towns and cities along the Gangetic plain, where changes in material conditions can be seen in the texts themselves.

In the context of “world literature,” however, the Upanishads might – at least initially – seem to be something of an uncomfortable fit. Setting aside the fact that such designations often carry preconceived notions of ethnic origin and/or modern understandings of the nation-state, the Upanishads as literature – both individually and collectively as a genre – are an amalgam rather than a unity. This is not to say that there are not certain stylistic, linguistic, and especially thematic continuities across the Upanishads which give the broader contours of a genre. There are, as I will discuss below. But it is to say that there is no single style, character, author, theme, or narrative that any single text, let alone the genre, adheres to. Rather it is a series of overlapping concerns about the nature of the cosmos, the role of the human being both within and beyond that cosmos (i.e. transcendence or liberation), and especially various conceptual strategies through which to explore these concerns that can be seen as loosely constituting a genre. If we take “world literature” as primarily designating a type of literary production that is both novel in form and content and enduring in impact and importance (whether literary, social, or religious), then the Upanishads most certainly qualify as one of the most significant contributions from the ancient subcontinent.

La BrihadAranyaka Upanishad appartiene al corpo dei Veda. Questi ultimi si dividono in quattro libri, conosciuti come Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, Atharvaveda. A seconda del contenuto e della forma letteraria, ognuno di questi libri a sua volta si distingue in: Samhita Brahmana Aranyaka Upanishad I Samhita consistono in una raccolta di inni impiegati, per la maggior parte, nei riti sacrificali e conosciuti più comunemente come Mantra. E' ad essi che normalmente ci si riferisce quando si parla in generale dei Veda. Quindi i Samhita possono appartenere alla sezione del Rigveda, se sono espressi in versi; allo Yajurveda, se sono resi in prosa e al Samaveda se sono strutturati in canti. Il Rigveda Samhita si compone di 10.580 versi (mantra); il Samaveda Samhita contiene 1.549 versi e si tratta di canti intonati durante i sacrifici. Lo Yajurveda Samhita raggruppa due recensioni conosciute come Krishna Yajurveda (Y. nero) e Shukla Yajurveda (Y. bianco). L'Atharvaveda Samhita non è generalmente studiato come libro di preghiere ed il suo uso è limitato ad alcune forme di sacrificio. I Brahmana si occupano dell'uso pratico dei canti contemplati dai Samhita. Gli Aranyaka a loro volta, sviluppano alcune considerazioni simboliche ed esoteriche di ciò che costituisce la pratica contemplata dai Brahmana. Le Upanishad, infine, riprendono alcuni temi dei Brahmana, ma li sviluppano in senso mistico e filosofico. Le sezioni filosofiche dei Brahmana e degli Aranyaka vanno normalmente sotto il nome di Upanishad. La Brihadaranyaka Upanishad appartiene al gruppo dello Shukla Yajurveda (Y. bianco); è probabilmente la più elaborata e una tra le più antiche. Si suddivide in tre libri: Madhu Kanda Yajnavalkya Kanda Khila Kanda MADHU KANDA (libro del miele) Sezione I-Asvameda Brahmana Testo 1."Om. L'aurora è il capo del cavallo sacrificale, il sole è il suo occhio, il vento il suo respiro, il fuoco Vaishvanara le sue fauci spalancate, l'anno (0) il suo essere. Il cielo è il dorso del cavallo sacrificale, l'atmosfera la sua pancia, la terra il basso ventre, i punti cardinali i fianchi, i punti intermedi i costati, le stagioni le membra, i mesi e le quindicine le articolazioni, i giorni e le notti le zampe, le costellazioni le ossa, le nuvole la carne, la sabbia il nutrimento, i fiumi gli intestini, le montagne il fegato e la milza, le piante e gli alberi il pelo; il sole che si leva è la sua metà anteriore, il sole che tramonta quella posteriore; allorché apre la bocca lampeggia, allorché sbuffa tuona, allorché orina piove; il suo nitrito,

Abstract-Mundaka-Upanisad is one of the oldest Upanisads and also one of the classical Brahmanic texts dealing with the ultimate reality (Brahman) and its relation to the Universe. Its ontological approach considers the reality as unique, as substantial, the dynamic and multiple Universe being a mere emanation of the real. The cosmogonic scheme takes over some Vedic emanationist theories, accounting for the manifestation of the Universe through a mysterious " heating " (tapas) process undergone by reality. Traditionally, Mundaka-Upanisad is included in " Jnāna-Khanda " division of the Upanisads, namely it is considered a text which extols the liberation by knowledge (jñāna). Several scattered verses deal with the Karmic process stirred by desire (kāma) and deed (karman) and the second section of the first chapter engages in a fierce refutation of all human realizations. Human states and accomplishments are blamed for being transitory and for not providing a final realization of human beings. Further, the text extols the renunciation to all worldly affairs and the pursuit of the absolute knowledge as the sole desirable goal of humans. Knowledge of the unique reality is presented as being rather an ontological act, a total dissolution of the individual being into the uniform and universal absolute. It is rather an act of " becoming " than one of " knowing ". The high esteem of knowledge is to be found also as a kind of " cult " of the Veda, inherited from the pan-Indian religious tradition. The text starts with exposing the way Vedic texts are revealed by the divine to humankind and with the lineage of their transmission. Scattered throughout the text, there can be found elements of Pantheism, Idealistic ontology, meditation techniques.

Kausitaki Brahmana Upanisad is one of the oldest Upanisads, written in prose, but including many quotations from the Vedic literature, which are generally in verses. The text is divided into four chapters.
The first one deals with Brahmanic eschatology. It discusses the post-mortem fate of the soul, which can be either Pitryana (“the path of the fathers”), through which the soul continues its transmigration through the Universe, either Devayana (“the path of the gods”). Devayana is followed by those who reached the comprehension of Brahman and hence are liberated from the Universe, at their death returning to their ontological source, Brahman, the absolute reality.
The remaining three chapters expose a vitalist view of the Universe. The essence of the entire Universe is none else but the essence of life, namely breath (prana). The principle of life is the principle of everything; ultimately, everything reduces to life, to breath. Hence, life becomes the absolute reality, the all-encompassing principle.

Keywords: Kausitaki Brahmana Upanisad, Veda, Brahmanism, Indian religion, Sanskrit, vitalism, breath (prana).

Pour ne pas abandonner a une pure equivocite la polysemie du terme grec “Sophia”, lequel va de la simple sagacite du dechiffreur d'enigmes a la science universelle parce que premiere, nous proposons de relire les textes fondateurs de la philosophie a la lumiere d'une methode nouvelle: le comparatisme indo-europeen, methode qui a deja prouve ses vertus systematisantes en grammaire et en mythologie. L'Inde, ayant elle aussi valorisee la parole vraie comme une figure de l'excellence spirituelle supreme, occupe dans cette comparaison une place privilegiee. La fameuse " theorie des idees " de Platon, veritable cœur de la sagesse grecque, se revele ainsi deductible de la difference archaique entre noms de la langue des dieux et noms de la langue des hommes, difference instituee notamment par les poetes vediques et presente dans la plupart des cultures indo-europeennes. Alors s'estompe l'antagonisme entre les champions de la parole que sont les sophistes e...

The intriguing similarity between the allegories of the soul chariot in Plato’s Phædrus and in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad has been pointed out — if not thoroughly investigated — by several scholars, accompanied with varying assessments, largely dependent on each individual scholar’s assumptions concerning the bare possibility or the degree of likelihood of contacts and influences between early Greek and Indian thought, the significance (or otherwise) of the intercultural comparative endeavour, or, indeed, the methodological soundness of even positing the question, in the almost complete absence of pertinent historical documentation.
Because assessments are to such a great extent  influenced by theoretical assumptions, the paper will start with some methodological considerations in order to define the grounds, scope and limits of the attempted comparison, also drawing on the methodological discourses of other related fields, like mythology and folklore.
A review of the relevant texts of the Phædrus and the Kaṭhopaniṣad will come next, setting out both the congruencies and the discrepancies in the treatment of the chariot allegory. A detailed survey of kindred passages in both literary traditions (which I have presented elsewhere) lies outside the purview of this paper, but a summary reference to its results will help substantiate the contention that the allegory of the soul chariot is integral to upaniṣadic thought in a way that is unparalleled in Greek thought, thus supporting the conjecture of diffusion in a westward direction.
Finally, the paper will briefly discuss what I regard as the paramount difference — i.e. the conspicuous absence of the idle passenger in the Phædrus allegory vs. his centrality to the allegory of the Kaṭha — and its significance as a theoretical watershed between Upaniṣad-based Indian and Plato-influenced Greek philosophy.

The article presents the aporias that are found in classical Brahmin
philosophical systems when their ontological assumptions are confronted with the fundamental metaphysical thesis formulated in the Upanishads. This thesis determines the way in which the absolute being is described: sat ekam advitiyam (existing one only, without a second).
The wording considerably resembles Parmenidesʼ description of being.
Later European history of philosophy shows various problems that appear in subsequent systems when we attempt to construct a coherent
ontological system which includes the Parmenidean concept of being.
The account presented is not strictly comparative, and it mostly analyses selected Indian systems. It shows analogous processes of the origination of key metaphysical ideas peculiar to given traditions. It also
indicates significantly similar difficulties which are connected with assuming the Parmenidean understanding of absolute being in Europe,
as well as the Upanishadic thesis in India.

From the Publisher's note:
'We are immensely happy to bring out some of
Sri Swamiji Maharaj’s discourses in booklet form
as our worshipful offering at his holy feet on the
blessed occasion of his Birth Centenary. The present
booklet, ‘Meditaton According to the Upanishads’,
consists of two discourses given by Sri Swami
Krishnanandaji Maharaj on 14th January 1973 and
February 1997 respectively.'
©The Divine Life Trust Society

"Upanishads", also called "Vedanta" or "end of Veda", refers to the end of "Vedas". According to the classification of Hindu sacred works, Upanishads are supplementary writings attached to "Aranyaka". Based on Hindu traditions, the wise people and receivers of the Divine Commandments were the creators of Upanishads. These people, who were called "Caviya Satiya Sarvata", used to live deep in untouched and dark jungles of India where they meditated and studied their own self. They expressed the spiritual experiences inspired to them (by the Divine Source) and flowed within their souls, in the form of Wahdat al-Wujud (Unity of Existence), decorated them with the dressing of mysterious words, and formed them as compressed synthetic ideas. The era of jungle-life was started with the theses of "Aranyaka" and ended with Upanishads, a period which can metaphorically be called the education period in the depth of jungle. According to Max Muller's theory, Upanishads are the oral teachings of masters (morshids) to their close followers. It must be noted that most of the prominent theoretical schools in India and even in Buddhism have originated from Upanishads. With regard to the main subject in "Upanishads", the present paper tries to establish the specific spirituality, self-purification and the unique truth of the ancient India.

This is the PowerPoint we used for our exposition held on Tueday, 5th April 2022 at the VIRTUAL WORLD CONFERENCE ON GREEKS, KUSHANS, HUNS AND GURJARS: THEIR CULTURAL LEGACY IN THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT (5th-8th April 2022), organised by the Indo-Hellenic Research Centre (IHRC), New Delhi. The title of our exposition was: 'India and Ancient Greece: similar allegories, analogies, differences'.
For our exposition we concentrated on the analogies between Plato's Phaedrus and Katha Upanishad.

Les prédications du type « être l’Être » ne prennent sens que si le sujet en est divin et qu’il se pose à la première personne du singulier. De fait, dans le Veda (Inde), c’est autour de la proposition satyam asmi, « Je suis l’Être » ou « Je suis la Vérité », que s’organise l’auto-exposition discursive de la source de toute divinité, le brahman. L’Être comme nom est donc un élément de ce que les anciens poètes, chez Homère et en Inde, appelaient « langue des dieux ». Davantage, le verbe AS- qui, en sanskrit, signifie tout d’abord « être » en tant qu’ « exister », n’a été élu au rang de copule que parce qu’il a tout d’abord fallu prédiquer l’Être en tant que nom. En l’occurrence, un fait de parole nécessairement singulier a précédé et institué le réservoir des possibles que constitue la langue. L’être comme copule fait donc aussi partie, à l’origine, de la langue des dieux. Toute prédication s’effectuant par le moyen du verbe « être », y compris lorsque le sujet et le prédicat appartiennent à la langue des hommes la plus ordinaire et sont, de ce fait, marqués par le non-être, rappelle donc la participation intérieure de l’humain au divin. Ce qui se joue dans le langage constitue le paradigme et la cause de ce qui se joue dans l’âme exilée hors de son propre centre immortel.

The existential and religious attitude of classical Brahmanism has always been utterly anti-naturalistic; those philosophers looked down at all human conditions and accomplishments. Consequently, they put forward renunciation, ascesis, the reabsorption within the ultimate reality which emanated the corrupted multiplicity, as the sole religious ideals. Brahmanical ethics sees renunciation as the highest human goal; this option prevails over any other possible life attitude.
The present article deals with two main classical writings on this topic: Maitreya-Upaniad and Jābāla-Upaniad, both of them being included, by the Brahmanical tradition, among the „Sanyāsa-Upaniads” (Upaniads of renunciation).
Maitreya-Upaniad is a rare and, probably, the shortest version of the classical Maitr-UpaniIt takes a sheer anti-naturalistic stance along with expressing the longing for transcendence. King B¬hadratha, in spite of his royal condition, feels disgusted by whatever means human life and natural conditions and, consequently, decides to give up on everything and to engage on an ascetic path culminating in the ontological regression towards the source of all manifestation. The phases of the regression are depicted in quite an usual way, which mixes Sākhya elements with some concepts whose presence in a Brahmanical writing seems rather weird.
  Jābāla-Upaniad is quite a heterogenous text, containing some proto-Tantric elements (mentions of pilgrimage places, interiorization of pilgrimage and of religious tokens, salvific formulae) and, in its second half, stipulations regarding the act of renunciation and the condition of the one who renounces. The text lays stress on the relation between renounciation and moral, social or religious regulations. Renunciation cancels all worldly obligations, all moral imperatives, leaving the one who embraces it in a state of total freedom. The hermit becomes like a „madman”, defying all worldly reasons and all worldly obligations, and freely roaming in a Universe that ceases to bind him in any way.

The article deals with the way Advaita Vedānta approaches immortality, in opposition to the Judeo-Christian outlook. While Western civilization sees immortality in relation to the human personality and as somehow dedicated to the culmination of some higher personal values, Vedānta has a rather cosmic outlook, which only integrates human condition as a mere aspect of it. Eternity characterizes the Cosmic process, in its entirety. Human person and human values only collaterally occur within this process, as ʻstagesʼ of it. Therefore, in Vedānta, values and meanings pertain rather to the Cosmic process of Karmic consumption. The ʻspiritualʼ story is not so much about persons to be ʻsavedʼ and risen to ʻheavenly immortalityʼ but rather about an impersonal energetic process, of Karmic consumption. Spirituality is not mainly focused on issues specific to personal condition, such as taking the right decision, but rather on favouring the optimal deployment of a Cosmic process. It is rather a Cosmic spirituality that a personal one.
Within this context, the article particularly approaches issues such as the foetal condition (important for abortion related discussions), the after-life, the value and the meaning of human life.

Brahmavidyā taught in the Bhṛguvallī  of the Taittirīyopaniṣat is known as Bhārgavī Vāruṇī Vidyā. The article discusses the teachings therein by means of a comparative study between the commentaries of Shri Shankara Bhagavatpada and Shri Sayanacharya on this portion of the Upanishad.

“Yājñavalkya, when the speech of the dying man goes to the fire, the breath to the wind, eye to the sun, mind to the moon, the ear to the directions, the body to the earth, the soul to the space, the body hairs to the grass, the hairs to the trees, the blood and the semen go down to the waters, where is this man then?” (Bṛhadaraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3.2.13.)
According to Upaniṣads the self (ātmán), or the man, is situated in the heart, in the space inside the heart, or in the right eye. During the process of dying he goes through arteries, and then - through the sun beams - their cosmic prolongation, to the sun. In some of the texts, as in the parable of the two birds perched on a tree (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.1.1.), the self is split into indifferent observer and experiencer. Does this metaphor of the two birds mirror the inner structure of the self or the mechanism through which we conceptualize the self and in what extend with a real experience, similar to depersonalization and derealization?